Training Preseason 22-23

[Mantis Toboggan]

Set up your own ‘kindness’ forum if you like. Wokeness can GAGF. Talking footy here not family relationships.

It’s a footy forum but it’s fine for you to pot a player for the amount of time you guess he spends on his hair.

Righto.

 

[_Cerberus_]

I’d love to see him play forward and regain that form, but he ain’t getting a game if Naughton, Lobb and Ugle-Hagan are playing mate.

That's why I said he is most likely the back up swing man for either end if we get an injury or the sub role. Naughton with his bash and crash style will catch him eventually on the injury front, and despite some decent games late in the season, Jamarra will need to start the season strong.

Either way the point of my post was, don't write Bruce off just yet. He still may offer something.

 

[adogsfan5]

That's why I said he is most likely the back up swing man for either end if we get an injury or the sub role. Naughton with his bash and crash style will catch him eventually on the injury front, and despite some decent games late in the season, Jamarra will need to start the season strong.

Either way the point of my post was, don't write Bruce off just yet. He still may offer something.

Yep I can definetly see him playing both roles at some stage!

 

[dogwatch]

Set up your own ‘kindness’ forum if you like. Wokeness can GAGF. Talking footy here not family relationships.

What’s up BD? Didn’t expect to see you calling someone woke.

He’s saying Bruce is busting his arse for us so he (Bruce) deserves a break. That seems to me like a pretty reasonable footy point to make.

It’s ok to disagree with him but in my book the personal aggro isn’t ok.

That sort of attack is why we lose posters here. Often the good ones who reckon they shouldn’t have to cop that sort of treatment. And they’re right.

 

[Floridog]

My thoughts on Bruce from half way around the world:
When Bruce kicked his bag of ten his teammates worked hard to get him into double digits late in the game. Ever since then it seems to me that he is trying a bit too hard to pay them back and return the favor and giving up very gettable shots to pass off to a teammate. Being a team player is certainly a good thing, but IMHO the best way to be a team player is to kick the goals when they are there for you. That IS ultimately the point of the game.

 

[ScragCity]

Set up your own ‘kindness’ forum if you like. Wokeness can GAGF. Talking footy here not family relationships.

You okay brother?

 

[BrisDog]

You okay brother?

Had a few too many last night boys and couldn’t get the image of Bruce falling over late last year, a cycle of doom ensued.

Apologies to anyone offended.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

One of the key statistical red flags from 2021 was the opposition's scoring from our forward 50. This is the number one weakness from a quantatative perspective for me. It has been evident that we have targeted this deficit over the off-season with a) a greater emphasis of tackling/forward pressure and b) zoning of the mids and defenders when the ball is in our forward line.

For point a), the repeat effort tackles has been up, though our small forward stocks to me remains the area where our stocks are thin. West, Weightman, Garcia and McLean, plus Arthur Jones, Charlie Clarke and some of our rotating small mids will have this at the top of their non-negotiable KPIs to arrest last season's trend. Additionally and something that has been very obvious in match sim is that our tall defenders have been instructed to work the tall forwards over. Jones, Bruce and Keath are all ultra fit and were running off in waves to pressure Naughton, Lobb and Jamarra to go with them or risk an outnumber and subsequent score launch. As a result, the workrate of the forwards has been right up, suggesting that our tall forwards may have been key to allowing the leaks last year. The dual benefit from practising this, aside from the fitness gain, is that the tall forwards now recognise themselves as critical in keeping the ball locked in and that accountability has been rammed down their throat, while it has also allowed us to practise a more attacking style from our tall backs to take on the game in the same style that Richards, Dale, Daniel and Williams do. So in summary, expect greater pressure from our forwards and dare from our tall backs.

For point b) the instructional line coaching from from Brendan, Matt and Rohan has been loud and relentless. The education of the territory to guard and positioning to prevent opposition transition has been a focus, with constant communication and feedback between players and coaches to get it right.

Excellent analysis mate. I have never strayed onto FB as I have had many fights with FB posters on Twitter and found them in general to be overly and unnecessarily negative.
Keep posting on here it’s refreshing to read your reasoned analysis

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Melbourne is the GF in 2021.

Freo in the Elim in 2022.

If we don’t have 4-6 pragmatic tacticians in the off-season working on eliminating the above season killing periods, who are not sycophants to Bevo, this club can go and get f**ked.

Here is a tip - learn how to shut down and reduce the damage. Like a fire, smother the oxygen and contain the destruction. For me it was always put Dunkley in Gawn/Darcy’s hit zone and stop the other 2 midfielders hoping for the perfect tap from English……maybe get West in there now?

That and play McComb in the seconds.

LOL keep yelling at that cloud

 

[NthBondiDoggies]

Argument for Bruce for is - if he is fit - his job is to score goals and his record for this is way better than Lobb and JUH.

He also doesn’t clash with Naughton. When he and Naughton were fit we had two players scoring 50 goals. Adding Lobb/English is a very damaging forward line.

Alternatively, we have to keep playing JUH if we want him to both develop and stay. This is a priority but what do we do if he/JUH isn’t playing well?

Injury is a big ‘if’ if he comes back like Curnow then will be hard to keep out but if he is a bit off he could be a liability.

Reality is that we will have injuries and form and even though we will only play 3 talls - we will have the rotations from injury and form will determine who plays.

What List management has done is topped up for a premiership- last year we really dropped off in the forward line when Bruce was out. With only Schache to go to Naughton was Monstered.

Naughton JUH Lobb

- JUH injured

Naughton Bruce Lobb

- Lobb injures

Naughton JUH Darcy

- Naughton injured

Bruce JUH Lobb

Etc etc


We also did the same in the backs. When Keath dropped off after an AA season the year before that got us to the GF. We now have Jones for Cordy and are training Bruce to drop back if we get some injuries.

Also in ruck if English is down then Sweet/Lobb is much better than Sweet/Cordy.

Love how we have made sure we can’t be killed by injuries in key posts as easy as we have been.

Also have tried to address other issues:

Third talls: playing Khamis, Raak and Hannan both forward and back. Hannan back last year was a disaster - but Khamis forward was fantastic. Problem with our talls is that Lobb and Bruce are not great contested marks but more leads. JUH is developing but too much on Naughton and Weightman needs to stay away from packs. Having Khamis there jumping in could be great.

Crozier should provide good coverage for Richards and Dales but Raak is coming along nicely as a scrapper will most likely give us long term a faster third defender - we don’t have a Grimes/Morris Utility that is so handy. Cleary is coming along nicely as coverage for Dale.

Wings: Roarke came along in leaps - in the tough games showed his development. Bedendo and Williams developing )even though I would like to seen him in the guts) Baker brought in as a good option will play games. Jones is still WIP. Other options rotating a mid forward.

Small forward: obviously have Scott and McNeil as previously taken options. Scott is finding a good and important role as a small defender - he had some howlers but long term could be great - he has speed and good hands. McNeil is a bit in the wilderness - looks great in patches but can’t seem to get himself into the game enough - has genuine speed and good hands/

VDM is back after being out for most of the year - really needs to work on his hands/skills under pressure- this is holding him back and takes him away from being a crumber. JJ is more a traditional HFF - playing up the wing and moving forward. West, García and McLean will play minutes forward and are excellent but are all more Mids and this means they won’t really take games apart - we want constant threats. Charlie Clarke will play some games but not sure how ready he is.

Long term solutions also:

two thirty year old KPD => Busslinger, Gardner
two thirty year old KPF => Darcy, JUH
thirty year old small defender => Scott and Gallagher.

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

Had a few too many last night boys and couldn’t get the image of Bruce falling over late last year, a cycle of doom ensued.

Apologies to anyone offended.

I have always thought we need an interlock device for this forum I know it would help me

 

[Sharkey66]

I’d love to see him play forward and regain that form, but he ain’t getting a game if Naughton, Lobb and Ugle-Hagan are playing mate.

Is JUH necessarily a lock though? He should be but In key forward terms he is still very much a kid, and I could easily see him lose form and get dropped through the season.

 

[adogsfan5]

Is JUH necessarily a lock though? He should be but In key forward terms he is still very much a kid, and I could easily see him lose form and get dropped through the season.

Yeah look nobody should be a lock and should be pending form. I’m hopeful this is his consistent breakout season. And if it’s not, then yeah can’t just gift him games.

 

[Hoges64]

yeah nah his disposal woes are overrated

No, they are not. Yes he has speed, but that's not an excuse. Great players slow down the half-step required to hit a pass at speed. And as TiAn_ stated, he's well and truly capable of shanking them horribly when he's standing still / ambling along.

Smith's disposal by foot is some of the worst in the side and BADLY needs work, ESPECIALLY his short kicks.

Lobb is not a great contested mark

He averages 2.0 a game. I know averages don't tell an exact story, but for reference Naughton averages 2.1 and Charlie Dixon averages 1.9.

Saying he's not a great contested mark is just incorrect.

 

[Flags_In_The_Bag]

Any news on how Luke cleary is going? Impressed me in his games last year.

You mean this year

 

[DueWest]

True - certainly looks too slow. I just liked the idea that we could play that tall. Never before have we had that many good talls.

First game is Melbourne. They can match up

Defence match ups:

Brown: Keath
Gawn: Jones
Petty/McDonald: Gardner
Fritsch: Richards
Kickett: Duryea
?? Bullen/Spargo They have a few small: Dale

Our Forwards

Naughton: Lever
Bruce: May
Lobb: Petty
JUH: Tomlinson
Weightman: Rivers/Hibberd
West: Salem

If Darcy plays then that is probably excessive. Khamis gives us more flexibility and speed.

Excessive or should we leave him out to give Dees a sporting chance ?

 

[bresker]

I have always thought we need an interlock device for this forum I know it would help me

If they made a smartphone you had to do a breatho in before it unlocked I'd be all over that like garlic sauce

 

[Libbaaaa]

The Bruce rumours on the main board appear to be just that, that them with the ultimate grain of salt until proven otherwise.

 

[Charlie Bucket]

The Bruce rumours on the main board appear to be just that, that them with the ultimate grain of salt until proven otherwise.

Link?

 

[Norm De Guerre]

The Bruce rumours on the main board appear to be just that, that them with the ultimate grain of salt until proven otherwise.

The rumours board is better at shit posting than it is at breaking stories.

Like the main board or Adelaide. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. I have no idea why anybody would go to either place.

Link?

If you must.

Rumour - Bulldogs Fwd caught in toilets doing the freaky...

 

[Here we go dogs]

He averages 2.0 a game. I know averages don't tell an exact sory, but for reference Naughton averages 2.1 and Charlie Dixon averages 1.9.

Saying he's not a great contested mark is just incorrect.

I recall lobb’s contesting marking being a strength when he was at gws.

His biggest issue was always goal kicking.

 

[DognBones]

The rumours board is better at s**t posting than it is at breaking stories.

Like the main board or Adelaide. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. I have no idea why anybody would go to either place.


If you must.

Rumour - Bulldogs Fwd caught in toilets doing the freaky...

I feel ashamed that I activated your link. Avoid at all costs!

 

[cleveland]

I know someone that works at the club. Have heard Juicy is a player haha

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

The haircut, is that a clue?

 

[_Cerberus_]

Even if the Bruce rumors were true. Who gives a F really? Unless he was sleeping with someone based at the club, or a team mates wife. Then obviously there will be conflict internally and that is different.

What he does in his private life relationship wise has no relevance to the football field. Yeah he would then have family issues off the field, but that is where it belongs, and an issue for him to deal with privately. Players cheat, be cheated on, break up and divorce no more than any other regular person. As for the bathroom rumors. I'm sure most of us have been a little adventurous with our partners at some point.

Original poster just desperate for relevance and trying hard to milk a non issue into an issue out of something they seem to have made up. Not sure what his intentions are. Should be a hard ban for making up s***t like that given it can have consequences on relationships.